Improvement in amalgamating and collecting gold and silver



Quicksilver.

.UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

nriiyrntfw. AbAMsoE NEW YORK, AND W. s.y WonTHiNGToN, 'or NEW- TOWN, N. Y. y

-|MPRovtMtNT IN AMALGAMATING ANrr COLLECTING com AND SILVER.Y

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 4I ,5 SS,- dated February 1G, 41864; antedatcd z l .February 12, 1564. f

To @ZZ whom, it may concern.

Beit known that we, HENRY W. ADAM of the city, county, and State of New York, and

W. S. WORTHTNGTON, of Newtown, in the county of `Queens and State of New York,` have invented a new and useful Improvement of the same, .takenin the line 1/ y, Fig. 2.

Similar letterslof reference indicate corresponding parts in the several figures.

This invention relates ,to a new and useful method of amalgamating gold and silver with It is well known that a, strong affinity exists between, quicksilver. and the two,l precious metals above vmentioned; but

chemical affinities take place at insensible dis. `tances ,that is,` upon contact of the two or 4more substancesproposed to be united. =To

amalgamate gold or silver with Quicksilver, therefore, in a manner so thoroughv as to eX- tract all of theseprecious metals from the iquartz or other earthy and mineral 'substances with which they are naturallyc'ombined` or mixed, it is necessary that every particle of the said precious metals should be brought into actual contactwith an equivalent portion of the Quicksilver employed for this purpose.

This absolutely necessary condition of perfect amalgamation, it is believed, has never hitherto been effected, and hence it is that the said metals have never been fully extracted.

other foreign combinations, or in any uncal- ,ter so as to form a seal o'r tight joint.

` cined state, as it may at other times be beststo do when unmixed with foreign bodies which hinder or prevent contact with the quicksilver in La dry, sifted, and finely-divided state,

into an atmosphere of hot vapor of quicksilver, produced and arranged as hereinafter set forth, by which the two substances-namely,

the hot vapor of distilled quicksilver and the pulverized quartz'aforesaid-shall mingle to- 'gether' and interpenetrate eachother, that every particle ofthe said precious metals contained in the said pulverized quartz must come into actual and direct contact with the finely-divided particles of the Quicksilvervapor and effect a perfect amalgamation.

To enable those skilled in the art to fully understand ourinvention and practice the same,we will proceed to describe themachine vor apparatus designed for the purpose of carrying out'the invention.

. v`A represents a framing, which' may be constructed'in any proper manner to support the Pworking parts.

f is a vertical stationary cylinder, which is placed in said' framing, and has a short cylinder, C, fitted on its upper endin such manner that it may turn freely thereon, the cylinder C being provided with a screen, D, and a hopper, E, as shown clearly in Fig. 2. The lower end of the cylinder C is fitted inA an annular chamber, a, on the outer side of cylinder B, and said chamberais iilled with wa This movable cylinder@ has springs F att-ached to it, and vit is` also provided with a horizontal arm, G, which is acted upon by a wiper=wheel, H, at the upper end of a vertical shaft, I, in the framing A'. The action of this wiper- [wheel on the arm G, in connection with the springs F, gives a rotary shake motion to the cylinder C and screen D within it.

J represents a furnace or still for boiling or distilling the. quicksilver. This furnace or still communicates with the cylinder B a short distance below the screen D by means of a tube, K.

The lower end of the cylinder B terminates in a short funnel', L, which extends down into a pan, M, of suitable dimensions directly underneath the cylinder B, and N are stirrers which work within the pan M and are attached to a toothed wheel, O,which works on the top of the pan M and gears into a toothed wheel P, which is on the lower part of the shaft l. The stirrers N receive a rotary motion within the pan M through the medium of the gearing O P.

The powdered or pnlverized quartz is placed in the cylinder C, and by the motion communicated to the latter is shaken through the screen D, and it falls in a shower down through the cylinder B,the vapor of the distilled quicksilver coming in contact with the iine particles of the precious metal and amalgamating therewith. Should any of the .particlesl of metal escape amalgamation within the cylinder B, they with the condensed quicksilver pass into the pan M, and the amalgamation will be consummated within the pan, the stirrers N bringingin contact the quicksilver and metal. The refuse is washed out from the pan M at its top, and the water which is admitted into the pan for this purpose serves as a seal to prevent any of the vapor of Quicksilver escaping from the bottom of cylinder B. This seal together with that formed by the chamber a, which receives the lower end of the screen-cylinder B, areimportant, for the vapor of quicksilver being extremely injurious fatal consequences might ensue to the workmen if means were not employed to prevent its escape. Ve would remark that the stirrers N may be stationary and the pan M arranged so as to rotate instead. The effect, however, would be same in both cases.

The law of chemical affinities, so absolute and universal-namely, that absolute contact must take place between the two or more elements or substances to be united-would thus be met in the most complete and satisfactory manner, and a complete and entire extraction l of all the said precious metals in said metalliferous powder must be secured It is believed also that the heat at which the contact of the hot vapor of distilled quicksilver and the said pulverized and sifted and falling or iloating metalliferous dust takes place will increase the rapidity of the amalgamation and make it more certain, it being well known to chemists that heat usually increases the energy with which chemical affinities manifest themselves toward each other. The distilled quicksilver would mingle with the pulverized quartz in a state of vapor, and therefore very iinely divided and condensed by contact with the colder quartz, like steam condensing in a shower of mist. The pulverized quartz would become heated by the caloric it took from the vapor of the heated quicksilver, and both quartz-powder and amalgam and free quicksilver would fall down to the bottom of the chamber or passageway-that is, the cylinder B-and the process of amalgamation completed in the pan M.

This pan may be heated by a direct fire underneath it ifthe quartz-powder and condensed vapor of quicksilver falling down into it should not be hot enough for the purposes aforesaid.

We are aware that amalgamation has been effected by placing the pulverized quart-z and quicksilver within a vessel and exposing the mass to heat, so as to vaporize the quicksilver and cause it to pass through the quartz. We do not claim the above process as our invention; but,

Having thus described our invention, what We claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. The precipitating or discharging of the pulverized quartz in a shower into an atmosphere of hot vapor of quicksilver, substantially in the manner herein shown and described.

2. The cylinder C, provided with a screen, D, and arranged and operated as shown, for the purpose specified.

3. The stirrers N and pan M either or both, having rotary motion, in combination with the cylinder B, rotary screen-cylinder C, and furnace or still J, as and for the purpose speci` fied.

4. Operating the stirrers N or the pan M from the shaft I, when said shaft is arranged, as shown, and provided with a wiper-Wheel, H, to operate the screen-cylinder C.

5. The means employed for preventing the escape of the vapor of quicksilver from the cylinder B-to wit, the annular water-chamber a, into which the lower end of the screencylinder C is fitted, and the funnel L at the lower end of the cylinder B extending into the pan M and below the surface of the Vwater contained therein, substantially as set forth.

HENRY W. ADAMS. WILLIAM S. VVORTHINGTON.

Witnesses:

ROB. H. SoUDER, M. M. LIVINGSTON. 

